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Captain Ricky Ponting said not even matchwinner Michael Bevan was an automatic selection in the Australian one-day team tomorrow as selectors face the toughest choice of the South African tour.They must drop one of the in-form batsmen for the day-night clash in Durban if Bevan recovers from the hamstring strain which has sidelined him for the last three matches.The left-hander has batted in the nets, suggesting he is ready to return to a batting line-up which has driven Australia to a 3-0 lead with three matches to play.In-form Queenslander Jimmy Maher shapes as the most likely casualty if Bevan returns, but Ponting was reluctant to discuss the possibilities as he awaited a phone call from chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns.”It will be a hard decision now but we haven’t spoken about it yet,” Ponting said.”I don’t think anyone is an automatic selection but who do you leave out if you put Bevo in? That’s the hard thing.”Jimmy has performed well and most of the batters have done a good job in all of the games. It’s going to be very hard to slot him back in.”Despite Ponting’s caution, Bevan would be a certain inclusion because of his excellent record in one-day internationals, boasting the best batting average of anyone to have played more than five matches.He dragged Australia to a desperate victory over New Zealand earlier this season with a century at the MCG, confirming his reputation as the most reliable batsman in the game.If Bevan, Ponting and Adam Gilchrist are rated definite starters, selectors must drop one out of Maher, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn or Darren Lehmann incricket’s version of musical chairs.Each of those four players has performed during the series especially Maher, who received the man-of-the-match award in the second and third games when calledin for Bevan.He followed that with a valuable 14 not out from 12 balls in Australia’s 37-run victory in the fourth match in Bloemfontein last Saturday.Lehmann has been excellent in the series, helping Ponting in his first matches as captain, while Hayden has been promised an extended run as opener, scoring 79 in the tied match in Potchefstroom last week.Martyn has regained speed at No.4 after a scratchy run with scores of 42, 35 and 24, not making the job any easier for selectors.But that could change if Australia wraps up the series tomorrow, with Ponting indicating selectors could try different combinations in the final matches in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.”I want to win every game we play and if we put our best team on the park then it’s going to make the job a bit easier,” Ponting said.”We have to win the series first but we might try a different combination for the last couple of games if we win this one.”South African selectors face their own problems as they try to work fast bowler Nantie Hayward back into the team.Captain Shaun Pollock has already admitted Hayward’s recovery from an ankle injury left a question mark over the best combination for the Proteas, who have used Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Roger Telemachus in three of the four matches.

Adam Gilchrist’s image as his nation’s most untarnished cricketer took a blow late today when he was charged by the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) with making statements detrimental to the sport.The ACB’s decision to act against Gilchrist under its code of player conduct followed comments yesterday in which he suggested that Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan possessed an illegal bowling action.Speaking as a guest at a function before an Australian Football League match in Melbourne, the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman raised doubts about the legality of the action employed by the record-breaking Sri Lankan off spinner.”Technically, if you read the rules, I think he’s not quite within them,” he said when directly questioned about the delivery style that has yielded Muralitharan a total of 412 Test wickets.”If you read the laws of the game, there’s no doubt in my mind that he and many others throughout cricket history have (thrown the ball).”It’s amazing when you do go to the subcontinent and you do see so many young bowlers in the nets and they all run in and they’ve all got similar actions and they obviously do not worry about it.”(If) a junior … has an action like that out here, it’s just corrected as quickly as possible. I’m sure there are other people that say Brett Lee throws the ball at different times. It’s such a fine line.”Muralitharan has been the centre of controversy on each of Sri Lanka’s two most recent tours of Australia. In 1995-96, he was no-balled by umpire Darrell Hair for throwing in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, and subsequently suffered the same fate at the hands of umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan in a one-day international match in Brisbane.Three years later, a decision by Emerson to no-ball the spinner from square leg sparked dramatic scenes in a limited-overs contest between Sri Lanka and England in Adelaide, and all but prompted a walk-off by the Arjuna Ranatunga-led Sri Lankans.The validity of Muralitharan’s action has since been upheld as part of an exhaustive review process conducted by the International Cricket Council.ACB chief executive, James Sutherland, revealed today that he had spoken with Gilchrist about his comments.”After reading the statements attributed to Adam, I rang him and asked him to provide me with more details about the accuracy of the comments and how they came to be in the public domain,” said Sutherland.”After considering Adam’s explanation, I have issued a charge under the ACB Code of Behaviour. An ACB Commissioner will determine whether Adam’s comments are in breach of the code,” he added, in a brief statement that provided a further signal of the ACB’s determination over recent years to crack down on any disciplinary lapses by its players.As well as possessing the highest Test batting average of any current player, Gilchrist is one of Australia’s most marketable cricketers. His wholesome image was also widely identified as one of the key factors in his replacement of Shane Warne as national vice-captain in August 2000.The imposition of any form of punishment would represent a major blow to his distinguished record in the game.A date for his hearing has yet to be set by the ACB.* In a further development late on Monday night in Australia, Gilchrist revealed that he had rung Muralitharan to apologise for the remarks and said that he regretted that they had become the subject of such public focus. The wicketkeeper-batsman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he was disappointed that a journalist had recorded the comments at what he had believed was a private lunch in Melbourne on Sunday. Sri Lankan cricket officials added that they bore no grudge over Gilchrist’s comments, with team manager Chandra Schaffter affirming from England that Gilchrist’s apology had been accepted by Muralitharan and his teammates.

For the second time running, Australia fashioned an emphatic 9-wicket victory with 30 overs to spare to leave Pakistan wondering how far they have to improve not just to win (that thought must have been farthest from their minds) but to make a fist of it.The only thing that went right for Waqar Younis, the much-beleaguered Pakistan skipper these days, in this dress rehearsal of the final on Saturday was the toss. When he elected to bat first this time round, he must have expected that his batsmen would redeem themselves after a most pathetic display the other day. They capitulated as badly, putting together just 117 before bowing out. What is worse, they seemed to have learnt nothing from their impulsive and indiscreet batting in the previous game against the Aussies.Pakistan was below strength, and their combinations and balance rather lopsided, and Australia were as clinically efficient as they normally are. But it really was Pakistan’s lack of application which made the Aussies look really formidable. That they were the best team in the world was never in dispute; that the second-best with pretensions of upstaging them would be exposed so thoroughly again was shocking.Adam Gilchrist (15, 14 balls, 3 fours) and Mathew Hayden (unbeaten 59, 49 balls, 9 fours) started off in a typical aggressive fashion. The intention obviously was to further rub in Pakistan’s inadequacy by finishing the match as quickly as possible. Having taken fours off three fours of Younis, Gilchrist failed to read a slower one and played him on. That was the only success to come Pakistan’s way. Ricky Ponting immediately pulled Younis to square-leg boundary and then Abdul Razzaq (pressed into service early as Shoaib Akhtar walked off the field with a pulled hip muscle in his second over) to the point fence for four and then a majestic six at mid-wicket.In glorious form, Hayden at the other end kept taking fours from Waqar, Razzaq and Azhar to march to the quickest 50 of the tournament, of just 41 deliveries while Ponting didn’t return after the lunch break, opting to rest himself after he found some discomfort in one leg. But there was nothing to worry. Damien Martyn made 20, with the help of 4 fours, the last of these off Azhar Mahmood in the covers sealing the win.Pakistan for its part had been bowled out of the game with the three frontline Aussie pacemen between them getting nine wickets. While Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath made early inroads, a four-wicket burst from Brett Lee, later adjudged Man of the Match, made even a semblance of a fightback impossible. Though Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis made a last ditch effort, which took the Pakistan total into three figures, but the resistance was eventually sniffed out, the innings folding for 117, in 32.3 overs.But more than the lethalness of the Aussie pace trio, it was the laden-footed, reckless Pakistani batting which brought doom on itself. With the two best partnerships of the innings coming from the eighth and ninth wicket, lack of responsibility and commitment of the upper order was so conspicuous.Imran Nazir (7, off 23 balls), inducted in place of Wasim Akram opting out with a niggling leg injury, was caught low in the covers by Martyn off Gillespie. Then McGrath dealt a double blow in the 11th over, and it started the procession. Driving him on the back foot away from his body, Shoaib Malik gave Ponting the first of three catches at second slip. In good form of late, Younis Khan tried to essay a forcing stroke too early, his cut ending in Gilchrist’s gloves. Three for 24 was soon four for 33 as Lee got Saeed Anwar (22, 39 balls, 3 fours) in his first over. Anwar had only just started finding the gaps and hit McGrath, Gillespie and Lee for three exquisite fours. Lee bounced back next ball with a rising delivery, inducing the top edge which Warne grabbed with joy.That was the start of a purple patch for Lee, as he got a wicket in each of his first three overs. Azhar Mahmood hit him for a four through mid-wicket, but over-confidence did him in as he drove one straight into Ponting’s hands. Razzaq came in at Azhar’s fall, but was clean bowled before scoring, playing an apalling shot off Warne. A squared-up Afridi too was dismissed, Ponting taking his third catch. At seven for 48 in the 18th over, Pakistan were down and out.Rashid Latif and Misbah tried to put a partnership together, with the latter clouting two sixes to Warne at long-on. Rashid swept well for a four off Warne and got another boundary by guiding Lee over the top of slips. But Lee prevailed as Rashid drove one uppishly and Martyn brought off another good catch in the covers.Misbah (39, off 49 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) continued to play well, adding 44 in 60 balls for the ninth wicket with Younis. This retrieved the situation somewhat, but it was never going to be enough. Misbah, having gloriously driven Lee and Gillespie for fours in the covers, perished while trying to guide the latter for four a second time through the slips. That gave Gilchrist the world record for most catches in ODIs, 195 to Ian Healy’s previous-best, 194. Younis (24 off 36 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) having clouted Warne for six over mid-wicket and driving and pulling Lee for fours at covers and mid-wicket was bowled by McGrath to bring the innings to a close.

The East Zone wing of the National Cricket Academy run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has started functioning in Kolkata. The camp is being conducted by the former Test opener Arun Lal. Assisting him are Barun Burman from Bengal, Randhir Singh of Bihar and Jimut Mohanty of Orissa. However, the highlight of the Academy is the participation of Dr. Vece Paes, who incidentally is the father of India’s tennis star Leander Paes.The Cricket Association of Bengal initially had objected to the appointment of Dr Paes in the Academy. He is performing the role of a physical trainer. Initially, the CAB had planned to appoint some former cricketer of the state to perform the role. It was at Arun Lal’s insistence that the CAB was forced to accept Dr. Paes. Giving the reasons for his choice, Lal said on Wednesday, “To me he is the best man in the country as far as Sports Medicine is concerned. He can really work wonders with young kids.Being a former Olympian himself, he can understand the psychology of a sports person better than anyone else. That is why, I have brought him to the Academy.” Lal said that the camp will continue for two months and the emphasis will be on fitness. “I want to increase the physical ability, endurance and fitness of the cricketers in the Academy to the highest level.” The cricketers are going through their practice drills in two sessions. The morning session consists of physical exercise, swimming and fielding drills. The afternoon session is restricted to only fielding and batting.” The former Test opener who had earlier coached the senior Bengal team felt that it was easier to coach youngsters. “They listen to your advice. The seniors come as a much more hardened lot. They are not willing to change.”The Academy is being run in the same manner that Rodney Marsh runs theCommonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Bowlers have been askedto bowl a maximum of 40 deliveries per day. The cricketers have alsobeen given a file where they have been asked to write a daily reporton their performance.

South Wilts’ new ball attack will have a unique look about it this summer – both their opening bowlers are left-arm quicks !The Bemerton club has snapped up former Kwazulu-Natal bowler Shaun Adam, 22, to partner Jimmy Tomlinson, who has been contracted by Hampshire.A former South Africa Under-19 player, Adam has played nine SuperSport 4-day matches and six Limited Over games for KN, with a best 5-57against Gauteng in Durban in 1997/8.Adam, who spent last summer with top East Anglian Premier League side Sudbury, plays for Amanzimtoti – the former home of Hampshire’s Nigel Cowley and Sparsholt’s Rob Savage – in the Natal Union League.Adam is joined at Bemerton this season by former Calmore Sports all-rounder Paul Draper, who announced his Salisbury-bound move at the end of last season.

Free State produced a remarkable fightback to beat Eastern Province by four wickets in topsy-turvy Supersport Series Super Eight match which finished comfortably inside three days at Goodyear Park on Saturday.After being skittled for just 110 in their first innings, Free State discovered the middle of the bat as if from nowhere, and succesfully chased a target of 258 which in the circumstances had looked well beyond them.The Free State first innings was a sorry capitulation, as batsmenretreated into their shells and refused to take the attack to EP. Howdifferent it was on Saturday. Openers Andrew Gait and Kosie Venter put on162 for the first wicket, the 150 coming up in the 30th over as the devilsin the pitch were consigned to history and the batsmen took control.Gait was particularly severe on anything loose, smashing ten boundariesand four sixes before he was first out for 74. His dismissal was typical ofthe approach he brought to his knock, bowled heaving across the line at DaveCallaghan one ball after smashing him clean over the ropes.Gait’s demise signalled a mini-collapse, but no more than that, as threewickets fell within the space of just three runs. With Louis Wilkinsonproviding valuable solidity in the middle order, victory loomed into sight.Appropriately, captain Gerald Brophy was at the crease as the winning runswere scored and Free State completed a victory which means absolutelynothing in terms of the Supersport Series, but does at least allow them tofinish the season on a high.Earlier, EP must have thought they had done comfortably enough to makethe game safe, despite being dismissed for 187 in their second innings afterresuming the third morning on 129-5. Only young South African schoolscaptain Johan Botha (42)mounted any resistance, but a lead of 257 was arelative mountain for Free State to climb in the context of the match.

The Mumbai fire department has asked the Wankhede Stadium to undertake measures to improve its fire safety mechanism as it is currently not in compliance with fire safety norms. The stadium, which will host the World Cup final, was inspected by two fire officials on Wednesday.”The [inspection] team has found that the newly renovated stadium has many loopholes in its fire safety mechanism,” chief fire officer Uday Tatkare told PTI. “We will write a letter to the Mumbai Cricket Association stating there is a need to comply with fire safety norms. Once they abide by the terms we will conduct another inspection.”MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput, however, said there were only a few minor changes required. “We have already received the NOC and what is left now is the compliance certificate,” Rajput told ESPNcricinfo. “We were visited by the department day before yesterday [Wednesday] and they pointed out a few minimum requirements that we will have no problems complying with. It is not as if this is a new ground that has never passed fire safety requirements before. We have just redeveloped the stadium and this is minor stuff.”There have been previous worries about the progress of renovations at the Wankhede, which began soon after the conclusion of the 2008 IPL season. Back in 2010, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed stating the work at Wankhede was in violation of several environmental and safety norms. One of the main concerns was the lack of access of the fire brigade to all parts of the venue, as required under the National Building Code of India.The stadium was then supposed to be ready by November to host a Test match between India and New Zealand, but was dropped as a venue for that series. In December last year, the ICC inspection team slammed the stadium, saying it was not possible to confirm that it would be in a suitable condition to be handed over by January 31.The Wankhede managed to recover from that setback and was given the go-ahead by the ICC on January 27, even as Eden Gardens lost the India-England fixture. The Wankhede will host two World Cup group matches featuring New Zealand, Canada and Sri Lanka, apart from the final.

Match facts

October 10, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Can Trinidad and Tobago prolong the Caribbean party?•Randy Brooks/West Indies Cricket Board

How they qualified

Trinidad and Tobago bulldozed Jamaica in the final of the Caribbean T20 by 63 runs in Barbados.Yorkshire finished runners-up in the Friends Life t20 in August, losing the final to Hampshire by ten runs in Cardiff.

Big Picture

Yorkshire’s victory over Uva has taken them one win away to qualifying for the CLT20 but they will need to beat the Caribbean T20 winners Trinidad and Tobago to drive into the next stage. A loss would leave them waiting another day for their fate to be decided. T&T, arguably the strongest team in the qualifying group, have their work cut out. A defeat will send them home after just one match and their stay in the tournament would end up being shorter than their flights.T&T have made a lot of the news in the build-up to the tournament. First, they expressed dissatisfaction after being put into a qualifying group even though they finished as the winners of the Caribbean T20 twice in two years. The second issue, that of losing their players to IPL teams, kept the team on tenterhooks for sometime till after a few rounds of wrangling, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine opted for their IPL teams. But can the performance of the national team inspire the weakened regional champions?Pollard and Bravo topped batting and bowling charts for T&T in this year’s Caribbean T20, but the squad still has four players from the World T20 winning West Indies team. They are led by Denesh Ramdin, and have Darren Bravo, Samuel Badree and Ravi Rampaul, with the latter two having played key roles in West Indies’ successful campaign. Another player whose performance will be under the scanner for the team’s and his own good is Kevon Cooper, who has played in T20 leagues around the world on the promise of his potential, but is yet to prove his talent.Yorkshire failed to settle at the start of their match against Uva, who had a strong Powerplay against some wayward bowling that included seven wides. They got better with the ball as the innings went on and will hope to have settled and able to get off to a better side. With the bat, they are without David Miller, their match-winning against Uva, so one or more of the rest of the order needs to play the big innings, preferably one of the top order – captain Andrew Gale, Phil Jaques or Joe Root.

Players to watch

Ravi Rampaul produced the ball of the tournament in the World Twent20 final against Sri Lanka on a pitch which didn’t have much in it for fast bowlers. In South Africa, however, he will pose considerable threat on fresher, faster pitches against lesser batsmen. Rampaul was the most economical bowler for T&T in the Caribbean T20, with an economy of 4.23 runs-per-over, and his seven wickets came at an average of 14.42.Right-arm fast-medium bowler Moin Ashraf played his first season of Twenty20 cricket for Yorkshire this summer and was their second-most successful bowler with 15 wickets, behind Mitchell Starc. In Starc’s absence, the 20-year old Ashraf will be key to Yorkshire’s chances. He was the pick of the seamers against Uva with 2-29 in his four overs.

Quotes

“The most pleasing thing about today is that we weren’t at our best so there is room for improvement. We were probably at about 70 or 80 percent.”

SA squads for the Pakistan series

Test squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile (wk)
ODI squad
AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Graeme Smith, who has been out of competitive cricket since May, is set to lead South Africa against Pakistan in the Test series in the UAE, which begins next month. Smith suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury while playing county cricket for Surrey, which required surgery. He is not 100% fit yet but, at the squad announcement, Smith said: “I’m feeling on track and I feel I will be there on the tour.”Dale Steyn, who missed much of the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka due to several niggles – including side strain, groin, glute, neck and ankle problem – will be fit to play. Wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile was picked, while Jacques Rudolph missed out. Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson were both named, meaning South Africa will have two frontline spin options for the tour.JP Duminy, who had missed South Africa’s previous Test series – also against Pakistan, at home in February this year – due to the Achilles tendon injury that ruled him out for several months in the first half of the year, returns to the long format.Smith and Steyn also feature in the ODI squad for the tour, but Jacques Kallis – who opted out of the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs games in Sri Lanka – does not feature, despite confirming his desire to play the 2015 World Cup.Vernon Philander earns a recall to the ODI squad – the last of his eight one-dayers was played in January 2012. One-day cricket, South Africa coach Russell Domingo said, would help Philander develop his bowling further. “Vern’s strengths in Test cricket are his line and length and he would have to find more variation in the one-day game. It’s not about just bowling 10 overs on off stump,” Domingo said. “I always judge a player’s skill on how they are able to learn new things. Vern has an unbelievable desire to do well.”Kallis is expected to be back in the limited-overs set-up for the scheduled home series against India, and convener of selectors Andrew Hudson said the Pakistan series meanwhile provided the lesser-established players a chance to press their case. “This is an opportunity for new guys to put their hands up and compete for a place in the World Cup in 2015.”Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir will be among the players who want to grab that chance, having gained recalls in ODIs after more than a year on the sidelines. Alviro Petersen, Farhaan Behardien, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Chris Morris and Aaron Phangiso are the ones to miss out from the squad that played the ODI series against Sri Lanka in July.Cricket South Africa said their T20 squad would be named after the Champions League T20, which ends on October 6.South Africa play two Tests, the first of which starts on October 14, followed by five ODIs and two T20s, on the tour. Smith said South Africa would have to ease themselves back into Test cricket, having been away from the longest format for so long: “Going to conditions that are foreign, we just need to be smart in our preparation to be ready. We need to make sure we get the basics right. We can’t expect to be flashy after such a long break.”Domingo said it wasn’t ideal to go into a Test series after a long layoff, and that his team would just have to adapt fast. “We’ve been into Test series cold before; there’s not an awful lot you can do about it. The players are professional and experienced enough to know what they must do to hit the ground running.”There are some positives: fortunately we’ll be there for nine or 10 days before we hit the first of the two Tests, so that’s a bit of a plus. Included will be a three-day warm-up game, which is better than nothing at all – it’s pretty typical of the ways schedules go these days. I think eight of the 15 who go will be playing first in the Twenty20 Champions League, so that’s another good development.”

ScorecardFile Photo: Vijay Zol’s 173 powered India Under-19s to 503 for 7 in the first innings•ICC/Getty

Sri Lanka’s final-wicket partnership withstood 55 balls to salvage a draw against India in Dambulla. Following on after they could only muster 256 in the first innings in reply to India’s 503 – a total courtesy a magnificent 173 from captain Vijay Zol – Sri Lanka’s No. 8 Ramesh Medis and No. 11 Lakshan Jayasinghe held firm till close of play.India were asked to bat first and their top five all passed fifty. Shubham Khajuria dominated a 79-run opening partnership, striking 10 fours during an innings of 52 off 61 balls, while his partner Akhil Herwadkar collected his 71 runs at a more sedate pace. But India’s innings revolved around Zol’s century, which included 21 fours and two sixes. He and Sanju Samson, who made 89, put India on top with a third-wicket partnership of 200 runs. Samson was denied a century by Chamika Karunaratne, who also accounted for Zol and finished as Sri Lanka’s best bowler with four wickets. Shreyas Iyer chipped in with 65 as India declared at 503 for 7.Sri Lanka needed one of their batsmen to emulate Zol, but their top score was a patient 76 from Kavindu Kulasekara. Having begun gingerly, they lost Kusal Mendis in the eighth over, before opener Hashan Dumindu and Kulasekara steadied the innings. Kuldeep Yadav, who picked up four wickets in the innings, broke their 76-run stand for the second wicket. Minod Bhanuka was the only other batsman to cross fifty but after he became the fourth wicket to fall with the score at 197, India wrapped up remaining batsmen for an additional 59 runs and invited Sri Lanka to follow-on.Mendis fell early again and was followed by Kulasekara in the 13th over. Iyer compounded Sri Lanka’s problems by removing Dumindu and Bhanuka off successive balls before Sri Lanka recovered through Sadeera Samarawickrama, whose 88 off 141 balls included 15 fours and a six.But the home side were staring at defeat when Samawickrama fell, soon after notching up Sri Lanka’s only century partnership in the match with Thilaksha Sumanasiri. Sumanasiri’s half-century continued the resistance, though, and he ate away enough time before he fell for 62 off 133 balls for the last-wicket pair to hold on till the end of day’s play.